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. 2020 Jan 10;52(1-2):1–11. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2019.1711158

Table 1.

Use of FMD in cardiovascular and associated risk factor conditions.

Author(s) Year Condition studied Number of patients Summary
Anderson et al. [72] 1995 Coronary artery disease (CAD) 50 Patients with CAD had worse FMD than those with normal coronary arteries (4.5 ± 4.6% versus 9.7 ± 8.1%, p<.02)
Anderson et al. [73] 2000 CAD 80 Quinapril associated with significant improvement in FMD (1.8 ± 1%, p<.02). No change observed with Losartan (0.8 ± 1.1%, p=.57), Amlodipine (0.3 ± 0.9%, p=.97) or Enalapril (−0.2 ± 0.8%, p = .84)
Borschel et al. [53] 2019 Atrial fibrillation (AF) 466 AF versus 14,330 non-AF Decreased FMD in patients with AF observed but this was not statistically significant
Celermajer et al. [68] 1992 Atherosclerosis [Smoking, familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), CAD] 50 controls versus 20 cigarette smokers versus 10 FH children versus 20 CAD FMD was reduced or absent in smokers (4%), FH children (0%) and adults with CAD (0%) when compared with controls (11%) (p<.001)
Celermajer et al. [74] 1993 Atherosclerosis (smoking) 80 controls versus 80 current smokers versus 40 ex-smokers FMD was impaired or absent in smokers compared to controls (4 ± 3.9% versus 10 ± 3.3%, p<.0001). FMD was inversely related to lifetime dose smoked
Chambers et al. [75] 1999 Hyperhomocysteinemia 17 Inverse linear relationship between homocysteine concentration and FMD (p<.001)
Clarkson et al. [76] 1997 Family history of CAD 50 first-degree relatives versus 50 controls FMD was impaired in family history group compared to control group (4.9 ± 4.6% versus 8.3 ± 3.5%, p<.005)
Dupuis et al. [77] 1999 CAD, Hypercholesterolaemia 30 (Pravastatin) versus 30 (placebo) FMD increased with Pravastatin (4.93 ± 0.81% to 7.0 ± 0.79%, p=.02). FMD was unchanged with placebo (5.43 ± 0.74% to 5.84 ± 0.81%)
Felmeden et al. [78] 2003 Hypertension (HTN) 76 HTN versus 48 controls FMD lower in HTN patients compared with control (4.8 ± 1.3% versus 8.6 ± 2.2%, p<.001). After intensified hypertensive treatment, FMD improved (4.8 ± 1.3% (baseline) to 7.3 ± 1.7%, p<.001)
Freestone et al. [52] 2008 AF 40 AF versus 26 NSR Worse FMD in AF patients than NSR patients (0.0 versus 8.9%, p<.0001)
Gerhard et al. [79] 1998 Post menopause, hypercholesterolaemia 17 Oestradiol therapy improved FMD compared with placebo (11.1 ± 1.0% versus 4.7 ± 0.6%, p<.001). Modest decrease in total and LDL cholesterol with oestradiol
Gokce et al. [80] 2002 CAD 187 45 patients with cardiovascular event. FMD independent predictor of events (4.9 ± 3.1% versus 7.3 ± 5%; p<.001)
Gokce et al. [61] 2003 Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) 199 Worse FMD in patients ending up having a cardiovascular event (cardiac death, myocardial infarction, unstable angina, stroke) (4.4 ± 2.8% versus 7.0 ± 4.9%, p<.0001)
Hornig et al. [81] 1998 Heart failure 30 Quinaprilat improved FMD by 40% (10.2 ± 0.6% versus 6.9 ± 0.6%; p<.01) whereas enalaprilat had no effect
Iiyama et al. [82] 1996 Hypertension 13 HTN versus 13 controls FMD found to be less in patients with HTN than controls (13.1 ± 1.6% versus 18.5 ± 1.9%, p<.05)
Komatsu et al. [54] 2018 AF 184 paroxysmal AF (PAF) versus 53 chronic AF versus 79 sinus rhythm controls FMD was 5.4 ± 2.6% in PAF patients versus 4.3 ± 2.1% in chronic AF versus 6.5 ± 3.5% in controls, which was significant (all, p<.05)
Lekakis et al. [83] 1997 Diabetes mellitus 26 insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) without microalbuminuria versus 5 IDDM with microalbuminuria versus 26 controls FMD was lower in patients with IDDM with and without microalbuminuria compared with controls (0.75 ± 2.5% versus 5.8 ± 7% versus 11 ± 7%, p=.003 and .01, respectively)
Lieberman et al. [84] 1994 Post menopause 13 FMD greater in patients receiving Oestradiol than placebo (13.5 versus 6.8%, p<.05)
Mazaris et al. [55] 2014 AF 35 PAF versus 117 permanent AF Patients with permanent AF had impaired FMD compared to PAF (4.09 ± 1.67% versus 6.83 ± 1.38%, p<.001). Endothelial dysfunction associated with atrial remodelling in patients with AF and implicated in the progression from paroxysmal to permanent AF
Modena et al. [85] 2002 Hypertension 400 47 patients with cardiovascular event. Majority of these had poor FMD response (7.1 ± 2.5% versus 13.9 ± 2.6%). FMD can be improved following 6 months of antihypertensive treatment
Neunteufl et al. [86] 1997 CAD 44 (CAD) versus 30 (angina pectoris – non CAD) versus 14 controls CAD patients showed markedly impaired FMD compared to non-CAD group and to control (5.7 ± 4.8% versus 12.6 ± 6.7% versus 15.7 ± 3.9%, p<.00001)
Neunteufl et al. [87] 2000 CAD 73 27 patients with cardiovascular event. FMD < 10% predictive of events
O’Neal et al. [88] 2014 AF 2936 Smaller brachial FMD values associated with higher rates of AF. Each 1SD increase in %FMD values (SD, 2.8%) associated with less incident AF (hazard ratio 0.84; 95% CI 0.70–0.99)
Perri et al. [89] 2015 AF 514 Patients who experienced a cardiovascular event showed significantly reduced FMD compared to those who did not (3.06% [IQR 0.00–6.00] versus 4.67% [IQR 1.58–8.22], p=.027)
Polovina et al. [56] 2013 AF 38 AF versus 28 controls Median FMD significantly lower in AF patients compared to control (5.0% [IQR 2.87–7.50%] versus 8.85% [IQR 5.80–12.50%], p<.001)
Rossi et al. [62] 2008 Post menopause 2264 FMD ≤ 4.5% associated with a greater cardiovascular event rate compared with FMD > 4.5%
Schachinger et al. [90] 2000 CAD 147 28 patients with cardiovascular event. FMD independent predictor of events
Shaikh et al. [91] 2016 AF 3921 Lower FMD associated with an increased risk of incident AF (hazard ratio: 0.79, 95% CI 0.63–0.99, p=.04)
Shaposhnikova et al. [92] 2017 AF 29 PAF versus 32 persistent AF versus 35 permanent AF Progressive deterioration of FMD observed from PAF (7.96 ± 1.22%) to persistent AF (6.35 ± 1.18%) to permanent AF (4.81 ± 1.15%) (p = .001). Inverse correlation between permanent AF and FMD (r= −0.061, 95% CI 0.032–0.081) even after adjustment for comorbid diseases
Siasos et al. [93] 2015 AF 65 (30 PAF and 35 Permanent AF) Duration of AF inversely associated with FMD (rho= −0.058, p=.006). This was even after adjustment for confounders
Simons et al. [94] 1998 Hypercholesterolaemia 32 Median FMD improved compared to baseline with atorvastatin (2.2% → 5.5%) and simvastatin + cholestyramine therapy (1.8% → 4.5%) (p<.01 for both). FMD at baseline correlated with HDL cholesterol (r = 0.49, p<.01). Change in FMD was inversely correlated with baseline FMD (r= −0.54, p<.001)
Ulgen et al. [57] 2014 AF 40 PAF versus 40 controls FMD in AF group was significantly lower relative to control group (5.27 versus 6.65,p = .001)
Woo et al. [95] 2002 Hyperhomocysteinemia 17 Folic acid supplementation significantly improved FMD compared to placebo (7.4 ± 2% versus 8.9 ± 1.5%, p<.0001)